Important Links

Introduction

The increasing impact of disasters in many parts of the world and their growing complexity is a great concern for both developed and developing countries, and international society in general. According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the number of disaster-affected people from 1991 to 2005 was around 3,470 million, and economic losses were US$ 1,193 billion. From 2005 to 2015, over 700 thousand people lost their lives and approximately 23 million people were made homeless as a result of disasters. 76% of these disastrous events were hydrological, meteorological, or climatological, which includes storms, floods, wet mass movements, extreme temperatures, droughts, and wildfires. It is expected that in the next decade, climate change will lead to more frequent and extreme weather, reaching to broader areas.

Cultural heritage in all of its forms is also increasingly at risk due to natural disasters, and also human-made disasters such as wars and civil strife. Historic cities and monuments, archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, museums and archives, artistic handicrafts, and intangible heritage are affected by disasters and armed conflicts. The loss of cultural heritage is not only a loss of important sources of knowledge, tradition, and identity, but it also entails the deterioration of socio-economic resources for the recovery and development of societies.

The main goal of this course is to build knowledge for disaster risk management for cultural heritage sites and collections, and it outlines the measures and actions that should be undertaken by cultural heritage professionals before, during, and after a disaster. It examines how cultural heritage may be impacted by different types of disasters, and how cultural values can be changed or transformed during crises and disasters. In doing so, the course shows that cultural heritage is not only a victim in disasters and armed conflict; rather it can actively be a driver for resilience and can potentially contribute to disaster risk reduction and disaster recovery.